Modern Retro: Living With Mid-Century Modern Style

Modern Retro is a classic guide to Mid-Century Modern living. The book is not about architecture. Instead it is a guide to modern furniture and house wares. I say modern furniture because the book covers the periods from the 1920’s to the 1970’s. Tracking the Modern movement into the Mid-Century Modern and ending it with the birth of the Post-Modern movement. The book is filled with wonderful photos of design elements from six decades living well together.

The book is divided in to several sections. After a short introduction, Modern Retro lunches into design decades with a look at Modern elements and their design peers. It is a fascinating look at the evolution of all things modern and the changes demonstrated by the decade. The next section, The Modern Retro Look, covers the elements. This section breaks items into groups: furniture, lighting, rugs and textiles, glass and more. The final section,The Modern Retro Look, is about creating that look. In this section the book breaks it down by room. It covers living rooms, kitchens, dining rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms and work rooms. The book concisely organizes items in several ways for easy viewing.

Modern Retro, in general, is more of an idea book or design resource than a price or buying guide. The topic of finding vintage pieces does come up, but is not the main thrust of the text. If you have an interest in Mid-Century Modern, Modern or Retro design, pick it up you will not be disappointed.